TACLOBAN CITY, April 8 -- Brig. Gen. Noel Vestuir, commander of the Army's 802nd Infantry Brigade, on Tuesday assured the public that uniformed personnel will be on hand to ensure the safe conduct of the May 12 mid-term polls.

In an interview with journalists here, he said that as deputized personnel of the Commission on Election (Comelec), the military has been assisting the Philippine National Police (PNP).

"Even before the elections, we have an agreement with PNP for deployment. We will continue with our monitoring, as we have plans with the PNP and Comelec on where to deploy our troops," he said.

His reaction came after Fr. Edwin Perito, a civil society organization representative at the Leyte Provincial Peace and Order Council, ap...